Ethics & Moral Philosophy
- Beyond Moral Judgment
- Alice Crary
- This study claims that even the most perceptive views on moral thought offer no more than partial clarity, owing to an overly narrow focus on moral judgment. Crary argues that language is a moral acquisition and that any stretch of thought, whether or not it uses moral concepts, expresses the moral outlook encoded in a person's modes of speech. Drawing on diverse philosophical texts and examples from literature and feminist theory, she poses a powerful case for transforming our understanding of moral reflection and ethical concern.
- Hardcover 2007
- Cities of Words
- Stanley Cavell
- This book--which presents a course of lectures Cavell presented several times toward the end of his teaching career at Harvard--links masterpieces of moral philosophy and classic Hollywood comedies to fashion a new way of looking at our lives and learning to live with ourselves.
- Hardcover 2004 / Paperback 2005
- The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Volume VI, The Conduct of Life
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Introduction by Barbara L. Packer
- Notes by Joseph Slater
- Text Established by Douglas Emory Wilson
- The essays in this book, first published in 1860, were developed from a series of lectures on "The Conduct of Life" delivered by Emerson during the early 1850s. The published essays show Emerson's interest in many practical aspects of human life, and reflect his increasing involvement in politics--chiefly in the antislavery movement--during the decade before the Civil War. This edition is based on Emerson's holograph manuscripts and published sources, and incorporates Emerson's later corrections and revisions.
- Hardcover 2004
- The Consolation of Philosophy
- Boethius
- Translated by David R. Slavitt
- Introduction by Seth Lerer
- Composed while its author was imprisoned, this book remains one of Western literature’s most eloquent meditations on the transitory nature of earthly belongings, and the superiority of things of the mind. Slavitt’s translation captures the energy and passion of the original. And in an introduction intended for the general reader, Seth Lerer places Boethius’s life and achievement in context.
- Hardcover 2008
- Death and Character
- Annette C. Baier
- Baier goes beyond her earlier work on David Hume to reflect on a topic that links his philosophy to questions of immediate relevance—in particular, questions about what character is and how it shapes our lives. Her reading radically revises the received interpretation of Hume’s epistemology and, in particular, philosophy of mind.
- Hardcover 2008
- The Decent Society
- Avishai Margalit
- Naomi Goldblum, Translator
- How to be decent, how to build a decent society, emerges out of Margalit's analysis of the corrosive functioning of humiliation in its many forms. This is a deeply felt book that springs from Margalit's experience at the borderlands of conflicts between Eastern Europeans and Westerners, between Palestinians and Israelis.
- Hardcover 1996 / Paperback 1998
- Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers?
- Zygmunt Bauman
- Bauman urges us to think in new ways about a newly flexible, newly challenging modern world. In an era of routine travel, where most people circulate widely, the inherited beliefs that aid our thinking about the world have become an obstacle. He challenges members of the “knowledge class” to overcome their estrangement from the rest of society.
- Hardcover 2008
- The Engaged Intellect
- John McDowell
- This book collects important essays of John McDowell. Each involves a sustained engagement with the views of an important philosopher and is characterized by a modesty that is partly temperamental and partly methodological.
- Hardcover 2009
- Equality of Opportunity
- John E. Roemer
- John Roemer argues that there is a "before" and an "after" in the notion of equality of opportunity: before the competition starts, opportunities must be equalized, by social intervention if need be; but after it begins, individuals are on their own. The different views of equal opportunity should be judged according to where they place the starting gate which separates "before" from "after." Roemer works out in a precise way how to determine the location of the starting gate in the different views.
- Hardcover 1998 / Paperback 2000
- Ethical Formation
- Sabina Lovibond
- Lovibond invites her readers to see how the "practical reason view of ethics" can survive challenges from within philosophy and from the antirationalist postmodern critique of reason. At the heart of her argument is the Aristotelian idea of the formation of character through upbringing; these ancient ideas can be made contemporary if one understands them in a naturalized way.
- Hardcover 2002 / Paperback 2004
- Ethics
- David Wiggins
- Almost every thoughtful person wonders at some time why morality says what it says and how, if at all, it speaks to us. David Wiggins's work is an introduction to ethics that presupposes nothing more than the reader's willingness to read philosophical proposals closely and literally, giving readers the resources to arrive at their own viewpoint of why and how ethics matters.
- Hardcover 2006
- The Ethics of Memory
- Avishai Margalit
- Margalit's work offers a philosophy for our time, when, in the wake of overwhelming atrocities, memory can seem more crippling than liberating, a force more for revenge than for reconciliation. Morally powerful, deeply learned, and elegantly written, The Ethics of Memory draws on the resources of millennia of Western philosophy and religion to provide us with healing ideas that will engage all of us who care about the nature of our relations to others.
- Hardcover 2002 / Paperback 2004
- Ethics without Ontology
- Hilary Putnam
- In this brief book one of the most distinguished living American philosophers takes up the question of whether ethical judgments can properly be considered objective--a question that has vexed philosophers over the past century. Reviewing what he deems the disastrous consequences of ontology's influence on analytic philosophy--in particular, the contortions it imposes upon debates about the objective of ethical judgments--Putnam proposes abandoning the very idea of ontology.
- Hardcover 2004 / Paperback 2005
- Experiments in Ethics
- Kwame Anthony Appiah
- Appiah explores how the new empirical moral psychology relates to the age-old project of philosophical ethics. In this study, he urges that the relation between empirical research and morality, now so often antagonistic, should be seen in terms of dialogue, not contest. And he shows how experimental philosophy, far from being something new, is actually as old as philosophy itself.
- Hardcover 2008
- German Idealism
- Frederick C. Beiser
- Hardcover 2002 / Paperback 2008
- Having the World in View
- John McDowell
- McDowell builds on his much discussed Mind and World. He argues that the roots of some problems plaguing contemporary philosophy can be found in issues that were first discerned by Kant, and that the best way to get a handle on them is to follow those issues as they are reshaped in the writings of Hegel and Sellars. This new book will be a decisive further step toward healing the divisions in contemporary philosophy.
- Hardcover 2009
- Historical Ontology
- Ian Hacking
- With the unusual clarity, distinctive and engaging style, and penetrating insight that have drawn such a wide range of readers to his work, Hacking here offers his reflections on the philosophical uses of history. The focus of this volume, which collects both recent and now-classic essays, is the historical emergence of concepts and objects, through new uses of words and sentences in specific settings, and new patterns or styles of reasoning within those sentences.
- Hardcover 2002 / Paperback 2004
- Justice as Fairness
- John Rawls
- Erin Kelly, Editor
- This book originated as lectures for a course on political philosophy that Rawls taught regularly at Harvard University in the 1980s. In time the lectures became a restatement of his theory of justice as fairness, revised in light of his more recent papers and his treatise Political Liberalism (1993).
- Paperback 2001 / Hardcover 2001
- Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy
- John Rawls
- Barbara Herman, Editor
- The premier political philosopher of his day, John Rawls, in three decades of teaching at Harvard, has had a profound influence on the development of philosophical ethics. This book brings together the lectures that inspired a generation of students--and a regeneration of moral philosophy. It invites readers to learn from the most noted exemplars of modern moral philosophy with the inspired guidance of one of contemporary philosophy's most noteworthy practitioners and teachers.
- Paperback 2000 / Hardcover 2000
- Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy
- John Rawls
- Edited by Samuel Freeman
- This last book by the late John Rawls offers readers an account of the liberal political tradition. Constantly revised and refined over three decades, Rawls's lectures on various historical figures reflect his developing and changing views on the history of liberalism and democracy. With its clear and careful analyses of the doctrine of the social contract, utilitarianism, and socialism, this volume has a critical place in the traditions it expounds.
- Hardcover 2007 / Paperback 2008
- Leibniz’ "Universal Jurisprudence
- Patrick Riley
- Although Leibniz is universally regarded as the greatest German philosopher before Kant, his work as a political and moral philosopher is almost entirely neglected in the English-speaking world. Patrick Riley recovers this crucial part of Leibniz' thought and activity.
- Hardcover 1996
- Life and Action
- Michael Thompson
- Any sound practical philosophy must be clear on practical concepts—concepts, in particular, of life, action, and practice. This clarity is Thompson’s aim in his ambitious work. In Thompson’s view, failure to comprehend the structures of thought and judgment expressed in these concepts has disfigured modern moral philosophy, rendering it incapable of addressing the larger questions that should be its focus.
- Hardcover 2008
- Loneliness as a Way of Life
- Thomas Dumm
- “What does it mean to be lonely?” Dumm asks. His inquiry, documented in this book, takes us beyond social circumstances and into the deeper forces that shape our very existence as modern individuals. The modern individual, Dumm suggests, is fundamentally a lonely self. This book challenges us, not to overcome our loneliness, but to learn how to re-inhabit it in a better way.
- Hardcover 2008
- Making Good
- Wendy Fischman
- Becca Solomon
- Deborah Greenspan
- Howard Gardner
- Making Good explores the choices confronting young workers who join the ranks of three dynamic professions--journalism, science, and acting--and looks at how the novices navigate moral dilemmas posed by a demanding, frequently lonely, professional life. It offers extensive insights into how young workers view their respective domains, the nature of their ambitions, the sacrifices they are willing to make, and the lines they are prepared to cross.
- Hardcover 2004 / Paperback 2005
- Moral Dimensions
- T. M. Scanlon
- Scanlon reframes current philosophical debates as he explores the moral permissibility of an action. Blame, he argues, is a response to the meaning of an action rather than its permissibility. This analysis leads to a novel account of the conditions of moral responsibility and to important conclusions about the ethics of blame.
- Hardcover 2009
- Moral Literacy
- Barbara Herman
- Distinguished moral philosopher Herman draws on Kant to address timeless issues in ethical theory as well as issues arising from current moral questions, such as affirmative action and the moral costs of reparative justice. Challenging various Kantian orthodoxies, Herman offers a view of moral competency as a complex achievement, governed by rational norms and dependent on supportive social conditions.
- Hardcover 2007 / Paperback 2008
- Moralia, XVI
- Plutarch
- Compiled by Edward N. O'Neil
- Plutarch's Moralia, Moral Essays reflecting his philosophy about living a good life, is a treasury of information concerning Greco-Roman society, traditions, ideals, ethics, and religion. But access to the riches of this collection of over seventy essays has long been hindered by lack of any comprehensive index. This problem has at last been solved: the Loeb Classical Library's edition of the Moralia is now brought to completion with an analytical Index volume.
- Hardcover 2004
- Naturalism in Question
- Mario De Caro, Editor
- David Macarthur, Editor
- Today the majority of philosophers in the English-speaking world adhere to the "naturalist" credos that philosophy is continuous with science, and that the natural sciences provide a complete account of all that exists--whether human or nonhuman. However, there is a growing skepticism about the adequacy of this complacent orthodoxy. This volume presents a group of leading thinkers who criticize scientific naturalism not in the name of some form of supernaturalism, but in order to defend a more inclusive or liberal naturalism.
- Hardcover 2004 / Paperback 2008
- Nietzsche
- Peter Berkowitz
- Nietzsche has come to be revered by postmodern thinkers as one of their founding fathers, a prophet of human liberation who broke radically with traditional forms of morality and philosophy. Peter Berkowitz challenges this new orthodoxy, asserting that it produces a one-dimensional picture of Nietzsche's philosophical explorations and passes by much of what is provocative and problematic in his thought.
- Paperback 1996 / Hardcover
- The Philosophy of Childhood
- Gareth Matthews
- Adult preconceptions about the mental life of children tend to discourage a child's philosophical bent, Matthews suggests. By exposing the underpinnings of our adult views of childhood, he clears the way for recognizing the philosophy of childhood as a legitimate field of inquiry. He then conducts us through various influential models for understanding what it is to be a child, from the theory that individual development recapitulates the development of the human species to accounts of moral and cognitive development, including Piaget's revolutionary model.
- Paperback 1996 / Hardcover 1998
- Philosophy the Day after Tomorrow
- Stanley Cavell
- Seeking for philosophy the same spirit and assurance conveyed by an artist like Fred Astaire, Cavell presents essays that explore the meaning of grace and gesture in film and on stage, in language and in life. The theme of aesthetic judgment, viewed in the light of "passionate utterance," is everywhere evident in Cavell's effort to provoke a renaissance in American thought. Critical to such a rebirth is a recognition of the centrality of the "ordinary" to American life.
- Hardcover 2005 / Paperback 2006
- Political Ethics and Public Office
- Dennis Thompson
- Hardcover 1987 / Paperback 1990
- The Practice of Moral Judgment
- Barbara Herman
- Barbara Herman argues for a radical shift in the way we perceive Kant's ethics. She convincingly reinterprets the key texts, at once allowing Kant to mean what he says while showing that what Kant says makes good moral sense. This book both clarifies Kant's own theory and adds programmatic vitality to modern moral philosophy.
- Paperback 1996 / Hardcover
- Providence Lost
- Genevieve Lloyd
- In our ever more secular times—is providence lost? Perhaps, but as Lloyd makes clear, providence still exerts a powerful influence on our thought and in our lives. This book traces a succession of transformations in the concept of providence through the history of Western philosophy.
- Hardcover 2008
- Rationality and Freedom
- Amartya Sen
- Rationality and freedom are among the most profound and contentious concepts in philosophy and the social sciences. In two volumes on rationality, freedom, and justice, the distinguished economist and philosopher Amartya Sen brings clarity and insight to these difficult issues. This volume--the first of the two--is principally concerned with rationality and freedom.
- Hardcover 2003 / Paperback 2004
- Reasonably Vicious
- Candace Vogler
- Is unethical conduct necessarily irrational? Answering this question requires giving an account of practical reason, of practical good, and of the source or point of wrongdoing. By the time most contemporary philosophers have done the first two, they have lost sight of the third, chalking up bad action to rashness, weakness of will, or ignorance. In this book, Candace Vogler does all three, taking as her guides scholars who contemplated why some people perform evil deeds. In doing so, she sets out to at once engage and redirect contemporary debates about ethics, practical reason, and normativity
- Hardcover 2002 / Paperback 2008
- Rescuing Justice and Equality
- G. A. Cohen
- In this work of political philosophy, Cohen sets out to rescue the egalitarian thesis that in a society where distributive justice prevails, people’s material prospects are roughly equal. Arguing against the Rawlsian version of a just society, Cohen demonstrates that distributive justice does not tolerate deep inequality.
- Hardcover 2008
- The Second-Person Standpoint
- Stephen Darwall
- Why should we avoid doing moral wrong? After showing how attempts to vindicate morality have tended to fall back on non-moral values or first-person considerations-- Stephen Darwall elaborates the interpersonal nature of moral obligations: their inherent link to our responsibilities to one another as members of the moral community.
- Hardcover 2006
- Socratic Puzzles
- Robert Nozick
- One of the foremost philosophers of our time, Robert Nozick continues the Socratic tradition of investigation. This volume, which illustrates the originality, force, and scope of his work, is also an example of Nozick's trademark blending of extraordinary analytical rigor with intellectual playfulness. As such, Socratic Puzzles testifies to the great pleasure that both doing and reading philosophy can be.
- Hardcover 1997 / Paperback 1999
- The Southern Tradition
- Eugene Genovese
- In recent years American conservatism has found a new voice. But what seems new, Eugene Genovese shows us, may in fact have very old roots. Tracing a certain strain of conservatism to its sources in a rich southern tradition, his book opens a powerful perspective on the politics of our day. As much a work of political and moral philosophy as one of history, The Southern Tradition reconstitutes the historical canon, re-envisions the strengths and weaknesses of the conservative tradition, and broadens the spectrum of political debate for our own time.
- Hardcover 1994 / Paperback 1996
- Thinking How to Live
- Allan Gibbard
- Gibbard considers how our actions, and our realities, emerge from the thousands of questions and decisions we form for ourselves. The result is a book that investigates the very nature of the questions we ask ourselves when we ask how we should live, and that clarifies the concept of "ought" by understanding the patterns of normative concepts involved in beliefs and decisions. An original and elegant work of metaethics, this book brings a new clarity and rigor to the discussion of these tangled issues, and will significantly alter the long-standing debate over "objectivity" and "factuality" in ethics.
- Hardcover 2003 / Paperback 2008
- The Two Faces of Justice
- Jiwei Ci
- In this book, Jiwei Ci explores the dual nature of justice, in an attempt to make unitary sense of key features of justice reflected in its close relation to resentment, punishment, and forgiveness. He probes the human psychology of justice to understand what motivates moral agents who seek to behave justly, and why their desire to be just is as precarious as it is uplifting. The Two Faces of Justice can also be read as a remarkably discerning contribution to the Western discourse on justice.
- Hardcover 2006
- What Are Freedoms For?
- John H. Garvey
- In this work John Garvey argues that we should understand freedom as a right to act, not a right to choose; and furthermore, we should view freedom as a right to engage in actions that are good and valuable. This may seem obvious, but it inverts a central principle of liberalism--the idea that the right is prior to the good.
- Paperback 2000 / Hardcover
- What Is Good and Why
- Richard Kraut
- What is good, how do we know, and how important is it? In this book, one of our most respected analytical philosophers reorients these questions around the notion of what causes human beings to flourish. Observing that we can sensibly address what is good for plants and animals no less than what is good for people, Kraut applies a general principle to the entire living world: what is good for complex organisms consists in the exercise of their natural powers.
- Hardcover 2007
- What We Owe to Each Other
- T. M. Scanlon
- How do we judge whether an action is morally right or wrong? If an action is wrong, what reason does that give us not do it? Why should we give such reasons priority over our other concerns and values? In this book, T. M. Scanlon offers new answers to these questions, as they apply to the central part of morality that concerns what we owe to each other.
- Hardcover 1999 / Paperback 2000
- When Is Discrimination Wrong?
- Deborah Hellman
- Hellman develops a much-needed general theory of discrimination. She demonstrates that many familiar ideas about when discrimination is wrong—when it is motivated by prejudice, grounded in stereotypes, or simply departs from merit-based decision-making—won’t adequately explain our widely shared intuitions. When Is Discrimination Wrong? explores what it means to treat people as equals and thus takes up a central problem of democracy.
- Hardcover 2008
- Yearning for the Infinite
- Steven Lowenstam
- This work about Plato investigates the aims and objects of human desire, the ways in which humans can identify what they most need, the likelihood of realizing their goals, and the prospect of whether they ever cease to desire. The book focuses on three Platonic dialogues: the Symposium, Lysis, and Phaedrus.
- Paperback